Ok, better but:
Watkins not like the fluid, streaky-fast T.Smith. Much sturdier and stronger, much stronger. Bigger and tougher than Harvin, and not as quick/fast/elusive, but a terrific run after catch.
OB=V.Cruz is tenuous at best.
Cooks reminds me more of Steve Smith.
Evans = V.Jackson? That makess sense to me.
I’ve seen A.Robinson compared to Dez Bryant in a few write-ups.
Lee might be this year’s Keenan Allen in terms of productivity vs draft cost.
Adams isn’t nearly as fast as Jones, so..?
Moncreif = Josh. Well there’s high hopes.
Not coming after you, bro, but my take differs from yours and Grant’s this time.

Watkins is more like Roddy White and Evans is more like Vincent Jackson, but I like the comparisons overall.

Grant, what type of market do you think there would be for Crabtree in free agency? It seems like he is destined to hit the market, but what team would give him a huge contract? I really don’t see it happening with his lack of top end speed and his injury history. Crabtree is smart enough to see the market, is it possible that he just doesn’t want to be here long term? The whole Niners/Crabtree relationship has lacked chemistry from the beginning.

BigP, I see the niners resigning Crabtree soon after CK gets his extension. Crabtree is very important to what the niners do. When he came back the offense got drastically better. Plus I believe the relationship on the field with CK will go along way to crab resigning with the niners. Alot of people believed that the niners were going to let Navarro go because we were already paying big money for Willis but Balke knew how good bowman was going to be.. Again everyone continues to state on this blog day after day about replacing Crabtree.. He gets reigned in the summer for 5 years 40mil. 8 mil a year.. Book it!

‘Again everyone continues to state on this blog day after day about replacing Crabtree.’
.
.
I keep saying the same thing.
.
So many fans are giving him a 0% chance of re-signing.
.
I also think he stays.
.
I mean…Sherman’s big mouth alone might be enough of an insentive to stick around!
.
.
.
~ALOHA~

I see Evans as more of a Z than an X. Jackson is faster and quicker than Evans. Evans played Z at A&M.
Bruce is a bold comparison. I like it.
Steve Smith is an extremely bold comparison. Cooks is tough, but I don’t think he can be an All-Pro X like Smith was.
Lee is more of a YAC threat and more of a TD threat than Holmes was in his prime.
Matthews is a better athlete across the board than Nelson.
Jerry Porter is brilliant. Perfect.

Yeah… I think Evans will be an X in the NFL, but I agree Jackson is faster and quicker. I don’t think Evans has the agility to play flanker – I think he will always be better running the deep routes and comebacks, which is more of the X receiver’s bread and butter.

The Bruce comparison is all to do with the smoothness and quickness in/out of breaks. The first time I saw Beckham on film I was immediately reminded of Isaac Bruce and how he set up his routes and exploded out of cuts, so I’m sticking with that.

Cooks is a tough one – I agree with your Austin comparison in the short areas, but I think he is better than Austin in the intermediate and deep areas – basically Cooks can run a full route tree. I went with Smith due to size and speed combination, but I don’t think he’ll live up to that comparison.

Holmes coming out of college was known as a dangerous player with the ball in hand, much like Lee is, with the ability to get deep, like Lee did in 2012. There are some similarities to how they play for me.

Matthews reminds of Nelson more from the savvy player point of view. I think both guys know how to maximise their talent, and work their butts off to learn their craft.

Also, Robinson reminds me more of Keenan Allen than Michael Crabtree. Crabtree is a Z. Allen played X for the Chargers last season, and Robinson played X for Penn State. They move very similarly with the ball in their hands, too.

Its not many is it. I might add Fuller and Beckham to my list of possible guys to trade up for using a 3rd rounder, though I appreciate both guys aren’t everybody’s cup of tea. Despite my previous comments, I would be fine with using a 3rd rounder to move up for Evans too, though I don’t believe he is such a slam dunk pick as many do.

I’d be willing to give up a 2nd and 3rd rounder for Watkins, but seriously doubt they’d be able to swing such a trade.

I like Watkins because he’s a great blend of speed, power and aggressiveness. Great run after catch ability, but also very good making plays downfield (though he wasn’t used this way at Clemson very often). I think he’s the most complete receiver in this draft and believe he’s the only receiver worthy of the top 10.

I’m not sold on Evans as an elite prospect, but think he’s a very good prospect. I think he is worth using a 3rd rounder to move up for while Benjamin is not because he consistently displayed the good, strong hands and body control necessary for a big receiver to be a successful vertical threat, and showed better understanding of when to break off his route and comeback to help out his QB. The reason I’m not sold on him though is I question whether his speed is of a calibre to create much separation consistently on vertical routes in the NFL – heck he couldn’t even do it in college – and just being big isn’t enough in the NFL, as many big WRs in the past have demonstrated. His strong hands and competitiveness going up for the ball are elite, but he will be tested more fully at the next level. I also question whether he is agile enough to win the more lateral routes consistently.

Clemson led the nation in red zone production when he was across from Hopkins in 2012. Watkins drew a lot of attention his way. But you wouldn’t draft Watkins to specifically solve red zone issues – there are better red zone targets.

Which WRs in the NFL are ‘complete’ in every sense of the word? Not many.

While not a small WR per se, Watkins isn’t a big receiver either, which is likely why he isn’t dominant in the red zone. I wouldn’t call him a liability in the red zone, but you’d want some other, bigger receiving options on the field in the red zone too. But in terms of a run after catch on short routes + intermediate/ deep threat combo, hard to go past Watkins in this year’s draft.

Heh, well, you know I really like Beckham, so I don’t think Watkins is “much better” than Beckham. Watkins is better with ball in hand than Beckham – he’s tough to bring down while Beckham is not. I think Beckham is better than Watkins without the ball in hand right now, though you can argue Watkins has more upside than Beckham in this regard.

How would the fine folks of this blog react if we took Jordan Matthews with pick 30? I will never claim to know jack about college footbal (coverage in England is non-existant) but the more I hear about him the more I like him.

It all depends on who else is available. If Verrett, Roby, or Fuller are there, they’d fill the more immediate need and match the value of that spot.

If Beckham is available, hmmm?

I also think Matthews is borderline late-first / early-second, and I’d be more tempted to package #56 w/our 4th or 5th-rounder to move up and grab him in the second (if available) than use our first on him.

I’d also have to think that if he’s the target, they could trade out of #30 for an early 2nd-rounder to pick him a few spots later.

I, as one lone voice in the wilderness, think that’s too early for Jordan. He can play in the NFL, but probably not as a #1 Receiver. A number of NFL CBs could shut him down mano a Mano. He runs great routes and has excellent hands. He’s a great fit for Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but not for CK or Harb’s offense. IMHO, of course.

I don’t understand all this talk about the niners moving up for a corner. Balke does not value corners very highly. He believes corners can be found in the later rounds. I can see him moving up for a WR reciever of his liking considering how much interest they had in the free agent market. Quite frankly there is no corner worth moving up for anyway.. Gilbert and denard are not elite prospects to give up multiple picks for. Brock and culliver will be the starters. When culliver gets suspended cooks can play the outside just fine in the right system. if I was to make an educated guess the players Balke targets in rnd 1 are Evans, Benjamin, lee at 30, or a D lineman at 30 like a nix or edge rusher like a ford.

CK, I agree with you completely. We can go after J Watkins or P Gains in the Middle rounds. and focus on WR, DE, OLB or even G in the first two rounds. Unless a great player falls to the twenties and we can move up to get them without scarifying too much. I still believe this team has several needs due to the unknown rookie draft from the 2013. We need more pass rushers to rotate and put pressure on the QBs.

Chicago, there is no need to reach for a corner that most likely be a third corner at best in year one.. If they target a wr in the mid first rnd like Evans, Benjamin or by miracle Watkins slides to 9, they will have a much bigger impact. They need to target 2 corners in rnds 2-4… Focus on impact players.. This is the draft is the one to do that.. Last year other then Reid, they took players that will flourish in years 2-3…Gilbert and denard are not prospects then Rhodes and trufant.. Those two were okay rookies but nothing special..

Of all the comparisons listed the one I would be happy with would be either Cruz, Austin, and Hilton.

I’m high on Paul Richardson at the moment because he can stretch the field, run precise routes and is fearless going over the middle especially considering his small stature.
Also, what I like best is that he could very well be there for one of our 2nd picks. Imo that is a luxury that I can’t overlook because it allows us to target a top rated CB or DL with our 1st pick.

I believe we could draft two WR’s from rd 2-3 that could contribute as rookies. If we still covet the big WR type someone like Martavis Bryant could possibly be on the board in the 3rd.

great points ck, chi. Im changing my opinion. at first i was thinking we need to package a bunch of picks and move WAY up! as high as 5 (raiders) for Watkins or 10-15 range for for Evans. The way i see it, we dont have roster spots for all of the picks we have.

But for a while, ive been hearing that this draft is very deep and that very good players can be had up to the 4th round or so.

I think we need to use a handful of late round picks to trade up in the middle rounds, not necessarily to move up in the first as i originally thought. For a seventh rnd pick, maybe we can move up 10 spots in the 3rd or the 4th or whatever. We could do it 1/2 a dozen times if we wanted. we just dont have enough roster spots. no point in drafting 13 guys so you can cut 7. Look how that turned out last year( the cb the chiefs claimed off waivers that we drafted in the 7th)

As for “left field” picks: rb, de, c,qb
center is the only truly open starting spot right now. maybe Kilgore holds it down, but hes unproven and that makes me very nervous.
Rb is a huge concern for me. gore is loosing speed(getting caught at the 5 yard line in the super bowl) and nearing the end. Hunter and LMJ are back ups and Latimore is a big question mark.
We only have 2 legit QB’s. and the back up makes 2 million for the one year hes under contract.
DE, tank, like lattimore is a huge question mark. and IF hes the heir to justin smith, then we ONLY have to find one for Mcdonald

Why are so many people questioning Tank? He’s as much a question mark as any DL they could take in the first round this year. He was taken last year in full knowledge he’d have to sit out the year. He’s like having an extra first rounder this year, but one we already know which player its being used on.

Jshaw, you are spot on about targeting a RB in this draft. How can we show an interest in Toby gerhart and not Carlos Hyde? Hyde, lattimore, hunter going forward would be awesome. We could use an Eddie lacy type back. Hyde could very well be targeted by Balke.. Interest in Jacobs, gerhart, Blount can lead us to the conclusion that Hyde could be a target if we decide to trade up in the second.

CK,
I’ve been beating the draft a RB drum since the season was over. I love Gore and know that he will go down as one of if not the greatest 49er RB of all-time. But no one can outrun father time and the Org would be remiss to pass up on drafting a RB next month by not supporting that truth.

With Boobie gone and Lattimore still a big question mark drafting a RB to me is a no-brainer. Hunter is a keeper, but he’s not an everydown type. LMJ got lost in the shuffle last year so his future is unknown.
I like Hyde if he’s there with one of our 2nd picks but I don’t like him in the 1st rd.

There are some very good RB’ available from 2-5 rd this year and I believe we can draft one who can contribute or at the very least be available in case Lattimore has any setbacks going forward.

CK-don’t get me riled ,I was a Gerhart fan coming out of college and when he was a FA recently I thought, perfect, we can grab him now…not. Carlos Hyde would be a great addition,kudos to Razor for mentioning him a good while back!

CK,
Gerhart would have added a nice 1-2 punch combined with Gore. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

I like Hyde but not with our #30 pick. As I mentioned this morning, there are some very capable RB’s in the 2nd thru 5 rd this year.
If you and Razor like Hyde, take a look at Andre Williams from Boston College. Similar in size, speed and agility but available in the late 2nd to late 3rd rd.

Another guy I like is Trey Millard of Oklahoma. Bruising type RB that could be a goal-line nightmare for defenses.

Jshaw, ya lacy is a beast. McDonald was drafted as kind of an athletic all purpose tight end project. A more versatile delay walker is what there hoping for. A bigger version.. Ya it’s way to early to judge last years draft. Typically 3 years is a good measuring stick.. I thought Balke nailed last years draft. I believe tank, marcus, Patton, McDonald will be big time contributors.. Reid of course can be one of the best safeties in the game.. I also believe Balke will be super aggressive this year because he knew a couple years ago about the talent this year.. It’s going to be a big draft for us.

I still have big hopes for VMac. Walkers role was complex. A big learning curve. He played will at his pre-draft “weakness”, inline blocking. I expect McDonald to play faster, more instinctively in 2015.

I have hopes for Tank. Too bad he was taken off the NFI list for few games. Like Lattimore, the 49ers could have had Tank for an extra year under his rookie contract.

Vmac has alot of potential no doubt.. I believe it’s more important this year now that gore is a year older to find another bell cow to go along with lattimore. I don’t think both hunter and James will be on the roster in week 1.. I believe one gets traded. I can see hunter being traded for a 5th rnd pick. I think James sticks around due to his ability to return punts. Lattimore will also take hunters carries as well. This draft is going to be awesome. So much talent to choose from. A great year to own 11 picks!

Mad? Not really! But it was not an impressive draft. Reid was a good choice but he was expected to be for the position he was drafted at. He was able to get Tank and Lattimore later than their value ( assuming they recover ) because he had the option of redshirting them last year which other teams did not. When you consider the options available to him and the number of picks he was working with, it really was not that an impressive draft. It only looked somewhat better than it was because of the comparison to the year before’s. He does wheel and deal for picks but what he does with the collateral he acquires is not that impressive.

If “Jim Harbaugh doesn’t like comparing players”
turns into
Coach Harbaw boots another shot at Super Bowl win #6
in February 2015, then
Niner fans who are honest about life will begin to compare
Mister Harbaw with future replacement HCs.

Evans is a more complete and truer #1 receiver than Colston, who benefited from a top QB. I see him as more of a Vincent Jackson than Colston. Next, Watkins is far more complete than Torrey Smith, who is not even a true #1 in my mind..similar to trying to call Mike Wallace a true #1. Watkins is an excellent route runner coming out of college. Smith didn’t know what a route was coming out. If anything, Watkins is an smaller version of Josh Gordon. Watch tapes and tell me you don’t see similarities after catch. Watkins may be a little more explosive though. Scary.

Steal in draft will be Bashaud Breeland, CB, a player with better tape than Gilbert. Far better hips and in air adjustment than Gilbert. Plays faster than his 40 time of 4.6, but does need to work on press technique a bit. Is tall, rangy and athletic; all the tools to become pro bowler in 3-4 years. A better pure athlete than Sherman. He has one play in his highlight that looks exactly like play Sherman made against Crabs in Championship game. We will grab him in third round and everyone will cry wtf. Two years later, everyone will praise Baalke for finding another that round.

The reason stated by the NFL was that Radio City Music Hall wasn’t available on the dates in April they usually run. The real reason is probably what Robert said. May is right around the mid point of the offseason and the NFL loves to be in the spotlight as often as possible.

I agree Crab. I love the draft, but it’s been beaten into submission now with another month to go. Pretty much every one on here has probably changed their minds about 10 times over about players they like and dislike because there is so much time to think about it. I hate the draft being in May personally.

Some players I’ve been introduced to by way of the mocks here that have impressed me after watching their highlights are:
Paul Richardson
Jaylon Watkins
Ahmad Dixon
Andre Williams
Just to name 4 off the top of my head, but there are many more.

I’ve only seen McGill with a round three ranking. Desir is the one with a round two or three ranking. You’re right that it could happen, but I don’t see the team taking that raw of a prospect so early.

You are comparing a terrible draft class with an elite draft class. 2012 draft class was terrible. 2014 draft is as deep as you will see. Once you understand that you will realize why people will question the majority of your mock. I apologize for being an asshole, it was uncalled for. I do understand that there is a huge difference in talent when talking about Jenkins draft and the one coming up.

Every year people make mock drafts essentially based upon the player rankings that they read from online sites rather then trying to actually put themselves in the heads of the people running the team. How many people had the Cowboys taking Frederick last year in their mock drafts?

I’ll take the pepsi challenge any draft. I keep the final copy of my mock drafts from every year and I know their success rate and I’ll put it up against anyone elses.

Wow you really fit some surprises in there, and that’s not even considering SFs pick. When did Mettenberger start sneaking into 1st round mocks? I would laugh but also feel a lot of pity for Browns fans. That would be Weeden 2.0

What’s interesting is if Watkins did fall past Oakland I wonder where he would land. Now that Lovie’s in Tampa you know he’s going to focus on the defensive side of the ball. I could se Buffalo perhaps but if he falls past them I could definitely some trades occurring. Should be interesting.

Like I said a lot of surprises but that’s usually how the real thing goes doesn’t it. Can’t wait for May.

Without trades after I put Lee to KC that left Carolina and Seattle as the teams that I see taking a WR in the first round. Im keeping Cooks to Carolina so that left Seattle with taking Bekham or sticking with Moncrief and I didn’t see a reason to change it.

Not sure where you got the idea that the Niners want him, but I haven’t seen him linked to them in anyway, at least not as a first round player.

That would be a huge reach to say the least and no way I could see it happening. I also don’t see Moncrief, Mettenberger, Seferian-Jenkins or Murphy going in the first, but that’s strictly my opinion vs yours and both carry the same weight or lack there of.

It would be a reach. I haven’t seen him linked to us either. The nagging thought is whether or not Baalke feels compelled to try and draft a fad big Sherman clone CB. If they do then I could see Harbaugh convincing himself that he can make McGill better then Sherman. When you look at this kids measurables it’s truly a bloody shame he can’t catch because he’d be a dream come true wide receiver. Raw is definitely a word I see used often with him but that word just get’s coaches excited sometimes. I’ve read he might also be better suited as a zone corner, maybe who knows but I’ll stick with it for now.

Do they really need to draft him at #30? If I was to stick with a no trade format through round two then yes I’d say so for sure otherwise I think they can have him in the high 40’s to low 50’s. That’s still higher then most have him listed but not all and I believe that his stock will be closer to that by the end of the next 30 days.

I don’t think Bridgewater out of the first round is all that big of a surprise anymore. I think Donalds size will get him drafted out of the first round. I really like the Sefarian-Jenkins pick actually. I didn’t expect quite as much backlash on putting Mettenberger in the first but I get that I’m biased towards him. Hageman/Mack was all about the teams picking and Mack at #11 is pretty much top ten. ;)

I don’t like the McGill pick either but yet it just seems to fit for some reason. It’s a Baalke pick in my mind.

If they took McGill in the first round someone would need to have a serious talk with Mr Baalke…

Why would they want him? Because he’s big? McGill is 25 years old and far superior in zone coverage over man. He’s poor moving laterally, doesn’t flip his hips well (he actually often cheats by semi-turning his hips early, which will make him susceptible to moves in the other direction), has poor acceleration and throttle down, a history of injuries, questions after the senior bowl about his toughness… I’ve actually taken him off my list of targets entirely.

You regurgitate other scouts opinions well scooter but all the scout speak in the world doesn’t make any of it actually true. You said you didn’t like Darius Slay yet he was still taken higher then expected, I bet you could have found plenty of reports talking about fluidity of motion and whether his hips were open, closed facing this way or that way but it still comes down to how the teams think not how the websites do. The Lions thought Slay was worth taking even though you didn’t and that’s all I’m saying with McGill. People have to stop mocking players simply because they like them personally.

Why do you think Baalke will like McGill though? What is it about him that makes you think he is what Baalke will go after? And if you don’t think he is that good, why do you think Baalke would think so?

Btw, with regards to my whole “regurgitating” other scouts opinion – those are a combination of my opinions based on watching film supplemented with scouting reports to firm up my thoughts. I’m not big on just regurgitating other people’s work without putting the effort into seeing whether I believe its valid with my own eyes.

So much talent at receiver. Except for Benjamin, Abbrederis and Janis, these guys will be 20-22 during the 2014 the season. A young group with oodles of “upside” (sorry). Youth is great, but it makes it hard to determine who will become weight room maniacs and film study geeks.

This means mental makeup is supremely important this draft. I hear good things about Odell Beckham, concerns about Benjamin letting himself get to heavy.

How would you rank this receiver class based purely on whats between the ears?

I’d expect in his contract year, and seething through the off season, we’ll see the very best Michael Crabtree has to offer as a player in the National Football League. Looking forward to whether or not that translates to making Sherman mad or sorry….

*Maybe you’re right Grant. Jake talks about how he realizes that he has a stud behind him and that if he doesn’t step up his game that Wilson will be the next to start. Alper who penned the piece outlines how the team would look to Wilson if Locker is unable to go and how the draft may be an option but maybe not if you have such a strong candidate like Wilson ready to go.

When it comes to receivers rankings are either dead on or dead wrong. Again based on walterfootball 2013 player rankings in 2013 the first four picks were almost as advertised with two players swapping position however after that it gets ugly; #5 ranked Allen goes #8, #7 ranked Wheaton goes #10. Their #9 ranked receiver was taken #14 and their #10 ranked receiver went in the 6th round.

This is not an indictment on the players or the people making the lists but it does suggest that the player rankings are pretty unreliable given the degree of variation in their accuracy.

Grant what i’m drawing from this post is there wo’nt be a single bust or disapointment out of the top 11 WR’s [Grants top 11] I’ll bet the house there will be at least one bust and 2 disappointments and that is being conservative.